OMG - isn't this unbelievable!!! THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY - and we are having to FIGHT for the treatment WE KNOW we need!! IT IS NOT THE DARK AGES FOLKS - but anyone would think it is! It is SHOCKING - in fact, it is worse than that, it is NEGLIGENCE!
You only have to search Google for anything relating to hypothyroid and you will come across so many stories of people who are at their wits' end because they know they feel crap and NO-ONE IS LISTENING. The doctors are so obsessed with numbers that they are ignoring the needs of their patients - that is totally DISGUSTING.
I was so sick of being told over the last 2 years that maybe it was due to iron levels, maybe I wasn't eating well enough, blah blah blah. When I spoke to my doctor I made several things clear: I have tried eating really healthily - I didn't feel better. I have tried increasing my iron intake - ditto. Besides, I have had low iron before (I'm a veggie) and it did not make me feel depressed, nor did it prevent me losing weight (I also explained to him that I had recently left Slimming World as I had not lost weight, despite following it to the letter). I am not a doctor, but it was bloody obvious to me what was wrong.
You have to convince your doctor that this "one size fits all" approach doesn't help - it is possible that your body needs to be at the lower end of the "normal" range in order to feel well - my doctor actually finally admitted that there is an argument that that is possibly the case for some people. We are individuals, we did not come out of a mould and we have our own needs.
I also assured my doctor that all I want is to feel well - I did not want to risk going outside the "normal" ie "healthy" range so if he was willing to try a higher dose I would be happy to be tested again whenever he thought was appropriate to ensure that I was within safe limits and not at risk of going "hyper" - which I pointed out was not something I wanted to do any more than he wanted me to.
And if all these arguments don't work for you (as well as crying!!), bear this in mind: back in 2002 there was a recommendation (admittedly in the US) that the higher end of the normal range should actually be changed to 3 (it quotes the current one at 5, but in the UK it is 4.5). In 2002!!! As it was believed that the normal range (which was actually only ever an average of people tested anyway) was misleading, as it likely included those who had high scores, so were borderline hypothyroid, but still considered to be at a normal level. See this site, it explains it better than me:
What Is a Normal TSH Level?
I quote:
"It's ... years since the experts have established that this new, narrower TSH normal range of 0.3 to 3.0 is a more accurate one, and recommended that it become the standard of practice. Yet, the dithering continues."
So, in other words my score of 2.7, rather than being in the middle of the normal range as my doctor sees it, should actually be considered at the very HIGH end of normal.
So make sure you find out your score!
Anyway, really sorry about the long post, and the rant, but this makes me so ANGRY. In any case, I hope this helps anyone out there get any ideas on what they can say to their doctors to convince them. After all, when you are feeling tired, depressed, and without energy or motivation, the hardest thing is to stand up for yourself and fight your corner. Don't let your doctor take advantage of that or have a lazy approach to your treatment. We all deserve to feel well. xxx
